Sweet Love of Mine

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty

Byrne cursed above her, the sound harsh and threatening against her ears. Emily did not have time to blink, let alone consider the implosive situation impending within the chamber, before she was taken brutally in hand and wordlessly dragged away.

A startled cry escaped her lips, her eyes wide and imploring on Sebastian. He was here. He had come for her, just as she knew that he would.

But his life was in danger.

Byrne would not relinquish her without a fight and the chances did not favour Sebastian, who would be vividly outnumbered considering the henchmen Byrne paid for his protection. Although the punishment for murdering a lord of the realm was severe, Emily did not doubt that her father was capable of the deed.

A peculiar silence settled over the crowd as she was shoved through it, onlookers peering curiously around them to witness the cause of the commotion. She lost sight of Sebastian as people closed in around them and panic threatened to suffocate her.

What if he was hurt? Or worse, killed?

And it was all her fault.

Emily struggled mindlessly against her captor, her father. She jerked and writhed, clawing at his arms and torso with all the might her body could afford. Driven by fear and panic, she hardly registered the fact that her back was stinging in protest or that Byrne's grip was turning increasingly brutal on her arm. The fight she was putting up drew attention to her plight and the clientele shared uneasy glances among some of them, unsure what to make of the display by one of Byrne's girls. A few smirked knowingly; others merely glanced away, continuing their previous activities prior to the occurrence of the ruckus.

"Byrne!"

It was Sebastian, his voice reverberating through the room with fury and vehemence.

But then she was dragged into a darkened hallway, away from the saloon. Her efforts redoubled, and Emily turned her head and sunk her teeth into the fingers gripping the top of her arms with savage force. It granted her a momentary release and Byrne swore foully as she slipped past him, lurching for the door that separated her from Sebastian. She threw it open, her fingers losing grip on the brass handle, "Sebastian!" she screamed.

Her instantaneous and short-lived freedom granted her a tiny glimpse of Sebastian, furiously wading through the crowd and pummeling two men to the floor with the aid of Lord Jason Blackwood, Marquess of Northwick, and Mr Lyons.

Oh, thank God, he wasn't alone.

The relief that washed through her overwhelmed the frustration of Byrne yanking her head back, his fingers twisting maliciously in her thick strands, tearing her scalp. She flinched, helpless, as he jerked her back and wrenched her along. "You bastard," she hissed, angrily. "You're done for now! Sebastian has you and no doubt he has alerted the authorities-"

Byrne laughed mirthlessly. "Silly girl," he sneered, his pace unhindered as he yanked her up a staircase, "do you think I don't ensure my own protection? Even the authorities are under my control in this town."

Although the information that the place was rife with blatant corruption shocked her, Emily endeavoured not to allow the emotion to exhibit. "Regardless, you'll be lucky to survive the night," she told him.

Behind them, an explosion of sound commenced, along with Sebastian's voice ordering her father to halt. Wherever Byrne was taking her, Emily was sure that there was no way for the man to escape. With Sebastian so close and his henchmen unseen, there was little else for it- Byrne was about to be thwarted.

They veered into a large chamber- a private suite of sorts with an elaborate four-poster bed in the centre and two adjoining doors adjacent to the one they had just entered through.